Current Clinical Interests and StrengthsI was very fortunate to have undergone a rigorous training focused on spine disease and pathology. A full year was dedicated to the comprehensive treatment of spine pathology. As such, my surgical strengths are in but not limited to the treatment of complex and degenerative spine disease with and without instrumentation. My clinical interests have led me to pursue excellence in minimally destructive approaches to the spine for treatment of degenerative, infectious and tumor pathologies. I have served as a surgeon proctor for teaching these techniques. I enjoy a general practice with responsibilities that also include treatment of cranial trauma, tumor and infection. My postdoctoral work in stem cell therapies for the treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI) created a foundation of interest in the confounding enigma of SCI but also the broader potentials of stem cell therapies. My current interests involve the clinical utilization of stem cells in treating degenerative spine conditions.

Dissertation
For my dissertation entitled, “Temporal and morphological analysis of myelinated sensory and motor axons in post-axotomized peripheral nerves of adult rats,” I developed a basic science animal model to address confounding clinical issues regarding the timing and location of peripheral nerve repair. The discriminate responses of motor and sensory axons following axotomy and their distribution within a neuroma were investigated. My overall findings suggest that both inherent differences in the injury response between myelinated sensory and motor axons and distance from cell body to injury site are significant factors in regeneration. Regenerating motor axons were shown to lag considerably compared to their regenerating sensory axons. Neuroma analysis revealed a dynamic structure whose composition and distribution of motor and sensory axons changed with time. Combined, these results provide insight to peripheral nerve regeneration that may facilitate and guide the timing of nerve repair.

During my doctoral work, I served as a payload specialist with NASA. I participated both in NASA’s space life sciences missions (SLS-1 and SLS-2) and several international pilot studies. The two missions, launched on the space shuttle Columbia, contained experiments designed to study the effects of antigravity and re-entry forces on the musculoskeletal and nervous systems.

ACADEMIC AWARDS
Resident Travel Award, 11th International Symposium on Neural Regeneration (12/05)
Department of Neurosurgery Medical School Scholarship (9/98-7/02)
American Association of Anatomists Travel Award (2/95)
Three Department of Cellular Biology and Anatomy Travel Awards to Soc. for Neuroscience,
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology and Midwest Neurobiologists
National Meetings (93-94)
Graduate Division Fellowship, Medical College of Wisconsin (7/90-6/96)